- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Veterans Affairs
Associate Minister of National Defence
- Liberal
- Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe
- New Brunswick
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $101,260.44
- Government Page
Mr. Speaker, it is quite the opposite. We look forward to seeing Bill C-13 passed, as do stakeholders across the country. That is why we have introduced an ambitious bill that that will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians. We are the first government to recognize the decline of French across the country, including in Quebec. I look forward to the passage of this bill. As I said, it is a bill that will make a real difference for all Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, our government and the Government of Quebec share a common goal, which is to do everything possible to protect and promote French across the country. That is why we are implementing an ambitious bill to ensure that federally regulated private companies' clients and employees will have the right to work in French and to be served in French, and this also applies to regions with a strong francophone presence.
I hope the Bloc and the Conservative Party will support this bill, as stakeholders across the country want us to take the next step.
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Mr. Speaker, what is hypocritical in the House is that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives are actually blocking our bill.
We have heard from stakeholders across the country, who are telling us that now is the time to take the next step. Stakeholders are telling us that they want to see Bill C‑13 passed so we can start working on the regulations.
Nevertheless, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives continue to play political games. This is completely unacceptable.
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Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have been listening closely to the stakeholders, and they have told us that it is time to take the next step.
Stakeholders want to see Bill C-13 passed because they recognize that it will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians. We introduced an ambitious bill to ensure that we can do everything in our power to support our official language minority communities and reverse the decline of French. I do not understand why the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives want to ultimately block this legislation.
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Madam Speaker, our government is firmly committed to protecting and promoting the French language across the country, including in Quebec.
We are also committed to supporting official language minority communities. This is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill that has more teeth. We want to rectify the situation in Canada.
I hope that the Bloc Québécois and all stakeholders will help us pass this bill.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche for his hard work on this file. I know he has spent a good part of his life working to advance the cause of official languages. He is doing an excellent job as chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
Since I was appointed minister, I have had the privilege of meeting stakeholders from coast to coast to coast. People are telling us that they want Bill C-13 to move forward. The feedback we received on the new version of the bill was generally very positive. People appreciate the work we have done. Stakeholders have also told us that they are eager for us to start working on the regulatory framework. Of course we want the bill to pass, but there will be more work to do after that, because the associated regulations need to be developed. Let us not forget that we have an action plan and some consultations coming up soon. We want to prepare our work plan for the next five years. Passing Bill C-13 is one of the steps we hope to accomplish soon.
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Madam Speaker, over the past few months, I have had the privilege of meeting with a number of stakeholders who have shared the improvements they want to see in this bill compared to the old Bill C‑32. I believe we have incorporated those improvements in Bill C‑13.
I really appreciated the comments by the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, and I would like to know what recommendations she would make and what amendments she would like to see to Bill C‑13.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, whom I very much like, for his speech this evening.
Over the past few months, I had the privilege of meeting many stakeholders who told me what they wanted to see in the new version of Bill C-13.
One suggestion I heard many times was to create a central agency. I believe my colleague mentioned exactly that tonight. I do have to say, however, that I am a bit lost, because I keep hearing the Conservatives talk about that. However, we did actually formalize the role of the Treasury Board as a central agency. Going forward, it will be in charge of implementing the act, and it will also have a coordination and evaluation role. Moreover, in the fall economic statement, we gave the Treasury Board more resources to make sure it has everything it needs.
I wonder if my colleague knows about these changes, which are exactly what stakeholders asked for. That change was made in the new version of the bill.
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Madam Speaker, through the course of the past six months, I have had the privilege and the opportunity to meet with many stakeholders who work in the field of official languages. They provided us with some feedback, so we made some improvements with Bill C-13.
Would the member be able to speak about the difference that Bill C-13 would make, in the communities that he represents, for the official minority communities within British Columbia?
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